All the attention that we place on social media, wishing to create an endless stream of happy, smiling faces, wealthy and successful lifestyles, picture-perfect moments, awesome inspiring lives, envious moments that make our world look pretty darn fabulous, is a false picture, because it’s not real life.

This is a reminder that social media is not always a fact. It’s a few seconds, minutes, or hours of someone’s world. Not the whole story. It is the picture that people want you to see. Hold still.

While some of those splendid, posted moments do happen, it is so easy to forget that social media omits the difficulties, traumas, lack of confidence, mental health issues, relationship struggles that exist in day-to-day life. Not everyone is living their best life.

Social media is a façade that’s so pretty and admirable that often we believe it to be a true reflection of someone’s real world. It is a constant feed of filtered photos and well thought-out captions, so well put together that it’s hard to imagine that every person we know isn’t living their best life, every single moment, every single day.

We need to be guere. They don’t. Everyone has issues, problems, things they don’t like about themselves and not let social media fool us into thinking that all these perfect people exist out there on vacation, at a very busy and crowded beach, filled with scattered rubbish. That is not a picture worthy of posting to send to your many “friends” on Facebook. This family photo is altered, cropped and the result is you posing on a very beautiful, quiet and remote beach, with sparkling water, spacious and inviting.

It is now the place you need to visit. You post, you wait, and then you begin to count the likes, the comments, the envious friends. You get so caught up that this fantasy becomes your reality and those of your friends who all spend time searching for happiness, chasing after the proverbial perfect life. or their lives. Social media isn’t a platform where people can easily be authentic and show that. It is life through an angled lens. One that’s not only filtered, but nowadays cropped of any hint of imperfection.

Take, for example, a family.

Don’t get me wrong, social media is an incredible way of being able to keep in contact with people who have been a part of our lives, whether past or present. It is a valuable way to communicate with people on a larger scale.

It is powerful and an undeniable force in today’s world. One single post can launch a worldwide movement, good or bad. It is a loud voice, a visual imagery, an instant connection that takes on a life of its own. We hold still, waiting, breathing, sighing as the subject matter changes as the world changes.

Yet, the real challenge is balance as we strive to teach our young people that we can fit in, stand out, yet not be fooled. Being real in the world that is fast changing is a journey for the strong-minded, the secure, the brave-hearted and the disciplined.

It is easy to join the crowd, to wish to not be left out, to follow the followers. However, the direction we ought to strive for is: we, while holding still, stand out to make a difference and build on the best version of ourselves that we were created to be.

Find your dream, without losing your vision; seek your truth, without hiding; discover your path, without taking the wrong turn; and stay connected without giving up your freedom.

Hold still, stand up and stand out. The real power of social media is the influence and values you wish to accept and pass on, since this can impact positive change in others.

You are the real champions to this change.

Be authentic and real. Stand up and be counted.

PAULA MOSES